The curse of MANXIETY: How men worry themselves to death – but women don’t (and those suffering with severe anxiety are TWICE as likely to die from cancer)

Men with anxiety twice as likely do die from cancer as those without it
• Women with the mental health condition at no greater risk, study found
• Men more likely to self medicate by drinking and smoking, increasing risk
Men with anxiety twice as likely do die from cancer as those without it
Women with the mental health condition at no greater risk, study found
Men more likely to self medicate by drinking and smoking, increasing risk

They suggest anxious men may be more likely to ‘self-medicate’ their anxiety by drinking and smoking more than women, both factors that increase the likelihood of getting cancer.

Men who suffer from severe anxiety are twice as likely to die from cancer than men who do not, a study has found. Stock image

Women may also be quicker at going to the doctor – allowing the cancer to be detected earlier, making it easier to treat.

A study of 15,938 Britons looked at those who had also been diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder. The disorder is characterised by excessive, uncontrollable worry about many areas of life, the researchers said.

Symptoms can include muscle tension, insomnia, an inability to concentrate and restlessness. A total of 126 men (1.8 per cent in the study) and 215 women (2.4 per cent) were found to have the disorder in the study.

Over a 15 year follow-up period, they found the men with GAD were twice as likely to die of cancer than men who were not affected by anxiety. There was no greater likelihood for anxious women to die of cancer, the study funded by the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK found.

Olivia Remes, a mental health researcher at the University of Cambridge presented her findings to the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress in Vienna.

She said: ‘In the past there have been inconclusive studies of the relationship between cancer and anxiety. However our study is the largest one to look at this relationship. We found that men with generalised anxiety disorder are over twice as likely to die of cancer as men without this condition. This holds true even after taking account of a range of additional factors, such as age, major chronic diseases, serious mental illnesses, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, and medications.

‘Women did not show this association between anxiety and cancer.’

She added: ‘The work shows that anxiety is associated with cancer deaths in men.

‘We can’t say that one causes the other; it is possible that men with anxiety have lifestyles or other risk factors that increase cancer risk that we did not account for completely however this association does raise questions, and society may need to consider anxiety as a warning signal for poor health.’

She continued: ‘Researchers, policy makers and clinicians don’t give enough importance to anxiety, and this needs to change.

‘A large number of people are affected by anxiety and its potential effects on health are substantial.

‘With this study we show that anxiety is more than just a personality trait, it is a disorder that may be associated with risk of death from conditions such as cancer.’

Her findings were supported by Professor David Nutt of Imperial College, the former adviser on drugs to the government.

Professor Nutt, a former president of the ECNP, said: ‘As a psychiatrist who used to run one of the very few clinics in the UK specialised in the treatment of people with severe anxiety disorders these results do not surprise me.

‘The intense distress that these people suffer often on a daily basis is usually associated with a great deal of bodily stress, that is bound to have a major impact on many physiological processes including immune supervision of cancerous cells.

‘As the authors point out other factors such as self-medication with tobacco and alcohol are also likely to be involved. I fully support the authors’ statement that much more information and investment need to be given to the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders’.

Our Aims: About Us

To support users and ex-users of psychiatric services in the Manchester area. The organisation provides a forum for services users to have a bona fide say in planning and provision of mental health services.

Protesters in King’s Lynn fight against mental health service cuts

Protesters took to the streets of King’s Lynn to voice their anger at what they described as “continuous” cutbacks to mental health services in west Norfolk.

Mental health cuts protest

A protest march against cuts to mental health services and the Fermoy Unit at the QEH took place in King's Lynn town centre. Picture: Matthew Usher.

More than 100 campaigners marched from The Walks through the town centre before finishing outside the Majestic Cinema.

Peter Smith, former parliamentary candidate for south-west Norfolk said: “We are in the fight of our lives here.”

The protest was triggered by the Fermoy Unit, an in-patient NHS facility in Lynn for mental health, which campaigners say faces an uncertain future. The unit was briefly closed to new admissions earlier this month, but reopened last week, albeit with fewer beds.

Mr Smith said: “In my lifetime we have never had to fight like this, but what is the alternative?”

But Debbie White, director of operations for Norfolk at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, said there were now no plans to axe the Fermoy Unit.

She added: “It is right that mental health services should be valued and funded on the same level as acute health services, and it is understandable people feel passionate about the Fermoy Unit remaining open.”

Labour party activist Jo Rust insisted the issue would not disappear. She said: “They have been talking about closing it for a long time. We will fight and we will not let them do that.”

Beth Anthony, 18 of Dersingham, said: “We are here to protest against the continuous cuts to the mental health service, we think it’s unacceptable. My younger brother suffers from poor mental health and has to travel to London... That is to the detriment of my family because we have to pay for him to go down by train every single month.”